WorldWide Drilling Resource

by Tim Rasmussen When I was last in Guatemala, I went to the Ministry of Health offices in Poptun and spoke to the director there. I needed to inform him of the interest expressed by some physicians to come and assist the hospital for a few weeks would not materialize, but we had a lot of good medical equipment to send with our next container. He was cordial as usual and indicated he had fully expected the offer of physician assistance to fail because it had happened before. We spoke for a few minutes about an urgent need which has developed in Dolores, a community about 20 miles from Poptun. He said they are experiencing a growing number of cases of typhoid fever. He said he has not seen any for about 15 years, and just this July began to see increasing numbers of cases. He was alarmed by the prospects of an epidemic. He stated the cases were centered along a small creek which flows through Dolores, and he was worried the contaminated water was contributing to the incidence of the disease. Typhoid fever is passed to humans from bites from infected fleas, ticks, and similar creatures. While not directly a waterborne illness, typhoid occurs in regions where sanitation is poor, so the filthy water was most likely a contributing factor. He wanted to obtain an injection pump to chlorinate the stream in an attempt to help the situation, but none was available locally, and in Guatemala City the cost was about 3000 quetzals ($500), which he did not have. After we left, I asked Berny if there was any way we could help. He thought there was a pump in our shop we used to chlorinate wells prior to operation. He and I went to the shop and found the pump. It appeared to be in good working condition, so we took it back to the Ministry of Health and gave it to them to attempt to address at least a portion of the problem. When he saw the pump, the director was very happy and immediately sent someone to get chlorine and head to Dolores to put the pump to work. Perhaps it will be of some assistance to the community. Water For Life is there to help in any way we can. Your donations make this possible. If you would like to help, contact Gary Bartholomew at 509-466-5075 or 509-939-1941 Tim Tim Rasmussen may be contacted via e-mail to michele@worldwidedrillingresource.com Dolores map of typhoid cases. 39 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® OCTOBER 2017